Do you "erase all" pics or format your card on a 20D after transfer?

[tony_craig]

Read manuals a couple of times and can't spot an answer. Is there a

preferred method? Advantages to either?

[digitmstr]

I use a firewire card reader and use the >MOVE< command from windows (or MAC) after which I delete the empty folder from the card.

[fallon]

I delete the pics after they have been transerred and backed up so I always have two copies on different sources.

 

Matt

[mike_smith2]

I Format each time on my 1D, not sure if it actaualy makes any real difference as I am not convinced it is a real Format judging by the speed the Format is carried out.

 

If it follows computer rules Delete just erases the file extension and the next info is written to next available cluster space leading to slowing down of reading as data info gets fragmented. Format command should erase all info on a disk and lead to improved write/read speed as the file clusters remain togther when written to the card/disk.

[christopher_bibbs]

I always erase the card from my computer's card reader. That has more to do with the fact that I have several cards and cameras and I keep distinct "clean" and "to be processed" piles.

[moi_photography]

Yes, erase all saves time.

[jon_austin]

Since the Canon dSLRs offer both "format" and "erase all" functions, it seems reasonable to assume that "format" does in fact format the card. The time it takes to run the in-camera format seems comparable to that in my PC's card reader, although I've never applied a stopwatch to the comparison.

 

There are those who are more comfortable with in-camera formatting, ostensibly out of reliability or data integrity concerns. I usually format in the PC card reader, because it enables me to apply unique labels (electronic names) to each card, and these labels appear next to the drive icon in Windows (XP) Explorer.

 

I've never had any problems with cards formatted in the PC card reader.

[david_eppstein]

In-camera format in my D60. But I have no real reason for thinking that it's better than erase

all.

[KenPapai]

I either copy and paste from the card (via Firewire cardreader) to a new Windows folder (I name all my folders for photos by Date, like "20050526", with the parent folder always being the camera name: Nikon, Canon, etc.). After copy & paste I then delete the images after I confirm the initial copy worked. Less often I cut and paste.

I format my cards at most once/year. I shoot RAW about half the time.

<p>

Every day I backup the previous day's work to an external hard drive.

[phule]

Always format the card in camera after you've downloaded the images. It's the best (and only) way to ensure the card functions properly with your camera (save physical failure).

[dave_nelson___atlanta__ga]

I "format" in camera after copying the files from the card using a USB 2.0 card reader and burning 2 CDs/DVDs. One CD stays in the office the other goes off site.

 

I never move, erase, or format using the computer. The file system in the camera may not exactly match the file system of my computer so formatting the card every time helps ensure that the card's file system matches what the camera expects.

 

Erase all is probably fine.

[cfimages]

After transfer and backup, I simply format the card in camera. Takes about 5 seconds to format a 2GB card on my 20D.

[carl chandler]

I tranfer just the pictures via usb card reader, then when I cotinue shooting it will fill up that previous folder. When thats full the camera will create a new folder to place pix into, then when i transfer the new pix from old & new folder I erase the previous folder since the camera has created a new folder.

[jon_austin]

"The file system in the camera may not exactly match the file system of my computer..."

 

The Canon EOS dSLRs (and most, if not all, modern digital cameras) use the FAT (file allocation table) or FAT32 file systems. If they didn't, the cards used to store images wouldn't work in any card reader, in which case the only method of transferring images would be via cable transfer (USB, FireWire, etc.).

 

Consequently, formatting the card in the card reader establishes the same file system as in-camera.

 

Incidentally, "erase" and "erase all" only delete the images from the card's "memory," while "format" rewrites the file structures (builds a new FAT from scratch).

[ericpetersonphoto]

The only problem I have ever had with a cf card was when I erased from the computer using a card reader. Now I still use the card reader but I put the card back in the camera erase and format every time.

[phule]

<< Consequently, formatting the card in the card reader establishes the same file system as in-camera. >>

 

I have seen a number of threads here and on other photography websites where card problems (error messages, unable to read cards, write to cards, etc etc) were introduced by people formatting the card via their pc and the problems were solved only when the cards were formatted in the camera. These were not cases where the card was formatted FAT-32 but the camera did not support FAT-32.

[byronlawrence]

to dave and john

 

i aggree about the formating that both of you say however some computers (with win xp) have been formated using ntfs which is different from fat. i am 99 percent sure however if you format your card with your computer that i will not write a ntfs setup. and also that ntfs systems can still read anything formatted as fat (like floppy drives).

 

also to an earlier comment (this is also a insignificant technicality) when you erase files it does just erase the memory address from the log file and when you write info to the card in the future it will write over old info or not, where the device will write any given peice of info if fairly random. the system will only check to see that there is nothing else addressed to that peice of memory. (this is one reason why i think defragmenting drives helps speed up you computer a little, however don't quote me)

 

so all in all erase all or format doesn't make a hoot of difference (as far as outward appearances go) so pick one and go with it. some might tell you that you should format once and just use erase all in after that, because format is designed for new cards or cards with a different format.

[andrew_carlson]

I was at the local botanical gardens shooting models and popped in an unformatted card with my 20D & 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens and immediately got errors, 99 or 01 I don't recall. Powering off or popping the battery out didn't help, formatting the memory card cleared the errors and I was able to keep shooting - time lost about 45 seconds. Now I format everything, copy to my portable disk and when I pop a new card in I format in-camera...never had another err 99 or 01 since.

 

For what its worth thats my reason/logic for formatting in camera.

[preston_merchant]

Do flash memory cards actually get physically formatted? They are not hard drives or tape drives . . .

[mendel_leisk]

Mike Smith wrote in part:

 

"Format command should erase all info on a disk and lead to improved write/read speed as the file clusters remain togther when written to the card/disk"

 

Sounds plausible, but in practice I don't think there would be any difference, if these cards behave like a hard drive. When a file is erased, it may still be there, but the space it occupies is "fair game". A new file would overwrite that space as required.

[jbq]

I "format" (which essentially amounts to writing a clean filesystem).

 

Advantage to formatting: faster, brings your filesystem to a guaranteed clean state.

 

Advantage to deleting all: only deletes the pictures. If you have other files stored on your card they'll still be there.

[jon_austin]

To Byron:

 

Win NT/2K/XP machines -- even those running NTFS -- will still format memory cards with either FAT or FAT32 (user option).

 

To Preston:

 

"Do flash memory cards actually get physically formatted? They are not hard drives or tape drives . . ."

 

Yes, they do get "physically" formatted, and it doesn't matter that they are solid state, rather than moving media like disks and tape. What formatting does is rewrite the file system structure onto the media, which basically provides a table for listing file names and identifying the starting address (location) of every segment of every file on the device.

 

Erasing all files simply clears the storage space of all files, but continues to use the same file system structure (file allocation table); formatting recreates ("refreshes") the table.

 

And, as Jean-Baptiste noted, "erase all" doesn't purge any other data (i.e., non-image PC files) like "format" does.

[steve_dunn2]

<cite>Do flash memory cards actually get physically formatted?</cite>

 

<p>The term "formatting" is, unfortunately, used to indicate more than one process related to preparing a medium to have files stored on it. Flash cards do not require low-level formatting, as magnetic media such as hard drives and floppy diskettes do, but they do require high-level formatting, which installs the partition and/or filesystem structures necessary for managing disk space, file allocation, directories, etc.</p>

 

<p>For those who use PCs with DOS or Windows on them, you may notice that when formatting a hard drive or floppy drive, you may be presented with an option to do a quick format. If you pick the quick format, you're doing a high-level format (and, depending on the software you're using, there may be some other steps done to allow you to undo the formatting and recover the files that were there before). If you don't pick the quick format, you get a low-level format (which can be time-consuming) followed by a high-level format; try it on a floppy and you can hear the two phases one after the other. (The same may be true for Macs, but I'm not a Mac user so I can't say for sure.)</p>

 

<p>Incidentally, if you have any confidential information, a quick high-level format is not truly sufficient. It makes the information harder to find, since it erases all of the directory and allocation information, but the contents of the files remain, and a sector-by-sector scan of the medium will find your data. A low-level format, on media which support this, fixes the problem (though rumour has it that some spy agencies can recover data even after low-level formatting); so does overwriting the files with other data (which is how secure erase programs work).</p>

[jira]

There is a possibility to mark image as protected. When you delete all images those that are marked protected stay on the card.

If you format everything is gone.

[roger krueger]

I always format in-camera, but I'm shooting a 1dsII, a camera with known CF card issues.

Why look for trouble? Some of the worst data-loss reports appear to be from folks who

formatted Lexar cards in Lexar readers. I've only lost a couple of images out of 6000+

even though I use a 4gb Lexar, one of the cards that's causing problems.

 

Theoretically all formats should be equal, but in practice that appears to not be the case.

At the very least by formatting it in the camera you're eliminating all the OS specific icon,

search, desktop, etc. files as well as any 3rd-party card-reader driver issues.